Focal-plane shutter



J. TESSIER.

FOCAL PLANE SHUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3. 1920.

1,41 1,675. Pate ted Apr- 4, 1922.

4 SHtEfS-SHEET 1.

FlEi l 12 up PI OR Julian Tessie; BY X ATTORNEYS.

J. TESSIER.

FOCAL PLANE SHUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1920.

Patented A li 4, 1922.

4 SHhEIS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: M/Z

ATTORNEYS J. TESSIER. FOCAL PLANE SHUTTER APPLICATION FILED MAY 3. 1920. I

- Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

4 SHEETs$HEET 3- 3 I I l I q i I l l I r i 3 7 l 161 i I l 191 129 I 232 105 l 1 I I 131 I 153 i 1 I I a l I m PIE 1 U 213 0 1 555 120/ 2142 ZZZ/15216 L J M BYfiX ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIEN TESSIER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIG-NOR TO EASTMAN KODAK-COM- P ANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

FOCAL-PLAN E SHUTTER.

Patented Apr. 4; 1922.

Application filed May 3, 1920. Serial No. 378,611.

. To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JULIEN TESSIER, citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Focala further object is to provide a shutter which will eliminate'the usual flexible curtain and tapes using strong rigid metal parts in their place; a still further object is to provide a shutter having a separate driving unit and a separate retarding unit, and to provide simple yet positiveworking connections be- 1 tween these parts; another object is to provide a shutter in which the mainor driving spring is provided with only a single adjustment for setting, the variable speeds of instantaneous exposures being obtained by adjusting the tension on a retarding spring;

and another object is-to provide a shutter having simple outside adjustments for regulating the various exposures. ,To these and other ends this invention resides in certain improvements and combination of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a camera equipped with a shutter embodying my invention. V

-Fig. 2 is a front elevation of shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a back elevation of the same, parts being omitted for clearness. I

Fig. i is an elevation of the shutter carrymg plate removed from the camera.

the' camera F 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail through the retarding and actuating mechanism, parts being omitted for clearness.

Fig. 7 is a plan View of the device for regulating the retarding mechanism, part being shown in section.

Fig. 8 isa view of the parts governing the shutter when it is .in position to take a time exposure.

Fig. 9 shows the same parts after the shutter has been opened for a time exposure.

Fig. 10 illustrates the position of the various parts before an instantaneous exposure of anyduration is made.

Fig. 11 is a section through the shaft by which the shutter is set for a time, bulb or instantaneous exposure.

Fig. 12 is a section through the time releasing lever.

Fig. 13 is a section through the main actuating lever.

Fig. 14 is a view shoWingt-he actuatin spring holding dogs in position from whic an exposure is made.

Fig. 15 shows the sameparts just before the shutter isset.

Fig. 16 is an elevation of the shutter actuating. mechanism, and governing parts, removed from the camera. I

The drawings show my shutter built into a three color camera which will simultaneously make three latent images through suit able screens upon a photographically light sensitive emulsion coated upon any desired support.- It is understood, of course, that the use of this shut-ter is not limited to this type of camera, but is particularly adapted for use therewithbecauseexactly the same duration of exposure can be obtained by its use for each of the three images, and because it is light and compactand can be readily incorporated in a comparatively small camera.

Such parts of thecamera will be described as are necessary to give a general understanding of the machine, after which the details of the shutter will:be fully explained. The camera comprises a rectangular body 1, upon the top. 2 of which the shutter mechanism is mounted on a late- 3, fastened to the camera by screws 4. here is a direct view finder 5, of the well-known type which folds against the camera when not in use. The image is formed upon a negative lens 6, car- "ried by a frame 7 hinged at. 8 to a plate 9 lever 15' mounted just above latch 15 is for moving the color screens behind the lenses, as will be fully described in a com anion application, Serial No. 378.614, filed ay 3, 1920. The door 13 carries the lenses 16 afiixed to a focusing mount 17, which comprises a casing 18 having a slot 19 through which a focusing .lever 20 moves. there being a pointer 21 which indicates upon a scale 22, the distance for which the lenses are in focus. This structure is more fully described in another application, Serial No. 378,615,filed May 3. 1920. The back 23 of the camera, which also forms the subject of a companion application. Serial No. 378.612, filed May 3. 1920. consists of a slidable section 24 movable on a track fastened on the rear of the camera body 1, into four positions. A latch 24' secures the slide in any one of these positions, three of which are for taking three sets of pictures upon a suitable plate or film, and the fourth position is for focusing. As may be seen in Fig. 3, the sliding carrier 24 is provided with a hinged door 25 held against the carrier by latches 26 (one being broken away in the drawing). A plate holder is loaded into the carrier through this door. .T here is a second small hinged door 27 on the slide 24. normally sprin pressed open by a spring 28, and held closed against such spring action by a latch 29. A ground glass is positioned under this door in the focal plane so that the image may be accurately focused if desired. A sheet of white celluloid 150 or other substance is held by a plate 151 in a recess 152 in the camera back. This provides three tablets upon which exposure or other data may be written.

Coming now to the shutter. Fig. 4 shows a shutter carrying plate or section 30 re- 'moved from the camera body. The shutter consists of a metal plate 31. having an elongated opening 32 across the center, being slidably mounted on the plate 30 by means of rollers 33 fastened to the-bottom of the shutter. Tracks 34 riveted or otherwise fastened to plate 30 are grooved ,to form rails A long rail 35 in which the rollers 33 run. is likewise grooved, providing a slot in which the top edge 36 of theshutter slides. Alone the upper edge of the shutter plate 31 there is a rack 37 by which the shutter is driven and retarded through pinions and mechanisms hereinafter described.

It is necessary to limit the cone of light coming through the three lenses to approximately the area of their respective exposure fields, so that the light from one lens will not overlap and thereby fog or'otherwise impair the latent image on an adjacent picture area. For this reason brackets 38 and 39 are fastened by screws 40 to the shutter carrying plate 30. These brackets support side plates 41. a top plate 42, and partitions 43. so that taken together a series of boxes open at each end are formed through which the light passes from the lenses to the exposure areas. As best shown in Fig. 5, an opening or slot 44 extends between the brackets 38 and 39. so that the shutter plate 31 slides beneath this light box. The top of the shutter'31 is slotted at 45 to pass about bracket 38, whereas the tracks 34 are separated, leaving a space 46 between which bracket 39 is fastened.

The shutter is driven by a driving unit designated generally as 47 and is retarded by a separate retarding unit indicated by 48,

Fig. 6. The driving unit 47 comprises a spring 49 housed in a casing 50 attached to plate 51, which is spaced from the main shutter supporting plate 3. by posts 52, as shown in Figs. 16 and 6. By removing screws 4, plate 3 with all of the shutter actuating mechanism may be lifted from the camera, leaving the shutter plate 31 in the camera.

The spring 49 is fastened at one end-53 to plate 51 and at the other end 54 to a shaft 55;

Pinned to shaft 55 there is a pinion 56 of such size that approximately seven-eighths of one revolution will move the shutter through rack 37 from the set to the exposed positions, or in other words, seven-eighths of one revolution causes the shutter to move across the camera from one side to the other. Shaft 55 after passing'througha suitable bearing 57 on plate 3 terminates on top of the camera in a knurled head 58. this setting wheel preferably being provided with an arrow as shown in Fig. 1 to indicate the direction in which it must be turned to set the shutter for an exposure.

The retarding unit 48. Fig. 6, is composed of a spring 59 housed in a casing 60. Unlike the driving' spring casing 50. casing 60 is mounted, upon and revolves about its shaft 61. The spring 59 is fastened at one end 62 to shaft 61, and at the other end 63 to a block 64 to which a gear 65 is fastened by a screw 66. This gear is preferably of the same size and number of teeth as gear 56. and, like it. meshes with the rack 37. In side of casing 60 there is a second casingor drum 6? carried by blocks 68 at the bottom and 69 at the top so as to form a guide for the spring. The guide, being supported at one end by a block 69 keyed to the shaft, will turn with it, but the casing 60, block 64 and gear 65 all rotate together about the shaft 61, which is supported by a bearing block 70 on the bottom 71 of the camera. The upper end of the shaft 61 is threaded to receive a one-toothed disk 72, spacer 73, setting wheel or knurled nut 74, and a'lock nut 75. All of these parts turn with the shaft, which is revolved only for varying the tension on the spring, thereby-retarding the speed of the shutter as the spring is made to act more or less strongly against the driving spring. At the base of the knurled'nut 74 there is a cam knob 76. This knob is engaged by an escapement pawl 77, omitted for clearness from Fig. 6, but shown in detail in Fig. 7, pivoted by a screw 78 to plate 79 attached by screws 80 to the shutter plate3. The one toothed disk 72 when turned is adapted to engage a wheel 81 which is provided with teeth 82 and curved peripheral portions 83 so that at each revolution of disk 72 wheel 81 is moved one space. On wheel 81 there are a series of designating characters 84 indicating the speed, with which the shutter will operate when retarded by the spring setting, indicated through a small window-85 in plate 79. When the retarding spring59 through use becomes weak, or where in its initial setting the correct speeds are not obtained, the tension can be easily regulated by loosening lock nut 75 so that the shaft 61 can be turned relative to the knurled nut 74; gear 65 must first'be moved out of mesh with rack 37. In case of accident, or if othdrwise desired, the'entire retarding mechanism can be removed through the opening 86 by removing screws 80 and lifting ofl" plate 791 a The controlling mechanism by which time, bulb and instantaneous exposures are made will now be described. Figs. 8, 9, and 10 show these levers and are part in section and part in elevation, the edge of the shutter plate 3 being shown in dotted lines. In ig. 8 the parts are shown in position for a time exposure. The main exposure lever 100 is revolubly mounted on a shaft 101 in a bearing 102, (see Fig. 13 for section),

carried by the shutter carrying plate 3. The lever 100 is locked between two plates 103,

103', there being preferably dowel pins 104,

for holding the parts so as to turn together and a screw 105 to hold them to the shaft 101. On the lower end of this shaft there is attached a yoke 106 by a pin 107. Attached to yoke 106 bya pin 108 is a link 109, which 1s also pivoted to one arm of a bell crank lever 110 by a pin 111 which extends up wardly forming a post. about its pivot 112, and has one arm termmating in a flattened portion forming an Lever 110 turns edge 113 against which a pm 114 carried by a lever 115 normally rests. Lever 115. is pivoted at 116 to the lower plate 51 and is pressed by a spring 117 in the direction shown by arrow. TllIS spring is shown in- Fig. 16. There is an extension 118 formingan abutment or stop on the end'of lever 115.

It should be noted here that the end 1190f bell crank lever 110 does not form a stop for pin 120 as does the part 118 of lever 115,

pin 120 passing under the end 119,-as shown up from plate 51 there is a flange 161 having so a plate 160 on its upper end. This plate overlies-gear 56, as best shown in Fig. 16,

and has a projecting arm 162 which prevents gear 56 from making one revolution; as one side, 163, of arm 162 forms a stop for pin 120 after an exposure has been made-see 1 dot and dash lines 120', Fig. 8and the other side, 164, of arm- 162 prevents the gear 56 Y i from being wound back too far in setting the shutter. By depressing lever 100, link 109 will thrust the bell crank lever 110 to the left, thereby moving lever 115 through pin 114 out of the path of pin 120 so that gear 56 will rotate, moving the shutter until pin 120 strikes stop 163. There is a knurled nut .121 with a pointer 122 which passes over a scale 123, as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 11 is a section through this part, the nut 121 being permanently affixed to a shaft 124, and having a lower flange 125 which normally rides on the top of a hear- ;ing 126 through which shaft 124 passes. There is a setting disk 127 on the lower end of shaft 124, which carriesa pin 128, the disk having a cam on cut away portion 129, Fig. 8, in one side. To hold the setting knob 121 in the desired position, a spring 130. surrounding shaft 124 tends to hold I shaft 124 down bybeing compressed between flange 126 and sleeve 127, thereby keeping a pin 131 on the lower side of flange 126 in any one of three notches 132 in bearing. 126. By slightly raising the setting knob 121 it may be moved and snapped into the desired notch opposite the exposure desired. Sliding about pm 128 there a slot 179 in the end of a link 130, which is attached at the opposite end to a bell crank lever131 by a pivot 132. Lever 131 pivoted to plate 51 by a screw 133 is adapted to swing its arm 134 carrying a downwardly extending stop 135 into and out of the path of pin 120 of gear 56, being actuated by spring 133. A

stop pin 190 onplate 160 limits the movement of lever 131 through an extension 191 which contacts with the pin. There is a pin 136 carried by one-arm of .bell crank lever 110. This pin is engaged by a slot 137 in link 130 when either a time orbulb exposure is to be made, as shown in Fig. 8. \Vhen the shutter is tripped link 130 must necessarily move stop 135 into the path of pin 120 through the connection just described, the shutter parts being illustrated in open position in Fig. 9.

Time cmposme.

To hold the shutter open for time a time lever 140v is provided carried on a shaft 141, to which is attached to move therewith a lever 142, carrying a pin 144 and a stop 145, (Fig. 9). The shaft 141 is turned in a clockwise direction by a spring 146, thus keeping pin 144 in contact with the cam disk periphery of 127. lVhen set for time exposures, (Figs. 8 and 9) upon depressing lever 100 and moving link 109 to the left, the pivot 111 which extends up, ridesa ainst one edge of lever 142 until caught an held by the stop 145, asshown in Fig. 9. By pressing the time lever 140 in direction shown by the arrow the shutter is released, since lever 110 in its return movement draws on link 130 which moves stop 135 out of the path of pin 120, after which the revolution of gear 56 will be completed, p'in 120 coming to rest against stop 163. It will be noted that lever 140 is only operative (for time exposures) when pin 144 is in the cutout portion 129 of the settingdisk 127.

Bulb exposure.

Bulb exposure differs from time in that lever 140 is held inoperative because pin 144 will not rest in notch 129 of the setting disk 127. The position of the disk pin for bulb exposure is shown by the dashed hatched lines in-Fig. 9. While this keeps lever 130 in the same position so that through lever 131 stop 135 will be brought into the path of pin 120, it prevents stop 145 from catching the pin 111, so that as soon as pressure on lever 100 is released, pin 120 will complete its revolution, closing the shutter.

I mtantaneous exposure.

WVhen' pointer. 122 is revolved to fInstantaneous on the scale, the exposure disk 127 will carry pin 12,8 around, lifting link 30 so that pin 136 is no longer engaged by the slot 137 in link 130, Fig. 10. Stop 135 is therefore out of operative position and cannot touch pin 120, as spring 133 rotates lever 131 in a clockwise direction, Pin 144 of the time lever still rides on cam 127.so that latch 45 is held out of operative relation with pin 111. By pressing lever 100, bell crank lever 110 through link 109 raises lever 115 by pin 114 releasing pin 120, which thrusts the shutter across the camera, and since the shutter can be moved until pin 120 strikes stop 163, it comes to rest after gear 56 has revolved approximately seven-eighths of a revolution.

F oeusing.

It should be also noted that 0 indicating open, is listed on dial 123 in the same place that indicates a time exposure. This is merely for convenience, the parts of the shutter control being set in exactly the relation used for a time exposure, and the oper' ation being the same, the description will not be repeated.

Setting the shutter.

The shutter must be set before any one of the EXPOSHIBS above mentioned; time, bulb or instantaneous. This is done by turning wheel 58 in the direction of the arrow about seven-eighths of one revolution. or until it stops and is latched. Fig. 14 shows the latch lever 115 in position for an exposure, the shutter being set with stop 118 contacting with pin 120. After making an exposure the pin 120 revolves until stop 163 is struck, that is, the position shown in dotand dash line, Fig. 8. To set the shutter, turn knob 58 in direction of arrow, Fig. 15, so that pin 120 in returning passes under lever 110, and strikes lever 115, camming it up out of the way until it passes the end of stop 118, after which it strikes stop 164 and the lever drops back under the impulse of spring 117 until pin 114 strikes lever 110, in which position gear 56 is held ready for the next actuation. The shutter is not selfcapping, that is, no provision is made to prevent light from entering durin the setting operation. A door 180, see Fig. 2, is normally pressed open by a spring 181, about the hinge pintle 182, there being a latch 183 for holding this door over the focusing mount, to which it is attached. This door may be closed for setting the shutter, or the dark slide of the plate holder be used to protect the plate.

aving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to'sec'ure by Letters Patent is:

1. A photographic shutter comprising an apertured plate movable in a. plane, a driving spring therefor. a retarding spring opposed to the driving spring and adjustable means for varying the tension of the retarding sprin to vary the speed of the shutter.

2. fn a photographic shutter, the combination with a movable light admitting member, of a spring fordriving the light admitting member, and a second spring to selectively counteract, more or less, the driving force of the first spring.

3. In a shutter mechanism, the combinameans being connected to the shutter through said rack.

4. In a shutter mechanism, the combina tion with a light admitting shutter, of rotary means for driving and rotary means for retarding said shutter, a rack on said shutter for operably connecting the driving and retarding means.

5. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a light admitting member and arotary drive therefor, of a latch for holding the rotary drive in one-position, a lever for releasing thelatch, a second lever for holding the first lever in an inoperativeipost tion until the second lever is operated.

6. In a camera havin an exposure aperture, the combination with a shutter mechanism including an apertured member adapted to cross the exposure aperture, of a rotary member for driving the apertured member and rotary member for retarding such move ment. and means for controlling the speed of movement of the a-pertured member by adjusting the retarding member.

7. In a shutter mechanism, the combination with a light admitting member having a. rack, of a driving pinion for moving the light admitting member through the rack, and a. retarding pinion meshing with the rack counteracting to adetermined degree theforce applied by the driving pinion.

8. In a photographic. shutter, the combination with a light admitting member and a rotary driving member therefor, of a stop for limiting the movement of the rotary driv ing member, a latch for holding the driving member in one position, a second latch, said first latch controllin said second latch, said second latch being adapted to hold the rotary driving member between its normal limits vof travel.

9. In a photographic shutter, the combination with alight admitting member and a rotary driving member therefor, of a stop for limiting the movement of the rotary driving member, a latch for holding the driving member in one position, a second latch, said first latch having means for moving the second latch to hold the rotary driving member between its normal limits of travel and means for placing. the second latch into or out of the control of the first mentioned latch.

'10. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a light admitting member and a. rotary driving member therefor, a stop for limiting the movement of the driving member, latches for holding the driving member in two positions, a. link for operatively connecting the latches. and means for moving the link so asto render one of the latches inoperative.

11. In a photographic shutter, the combitrolled by the link controlling means forholdin the latches against movement.

12. 11 a focal plane shutter for cameras,

the combination with a light admitting member, having a rack thereon, of a driving pinion meshing with said rack. and means carried by said pinion for controlling the movements of the shutter.

13. In a focal plane shutter for cameras, the combination with a light admitting member movable into three positions for giving time, bulb, and instantaneous exposures, of

a rack on the light admitting member, a driving pinion for the rack, and means for con trollmg'all of the movements of the shutter through. the rack and pinion.

' 414. In a focal plane shutter for cameras having an exposure area, the combination with an apertured light admitting member movable across the field of exposure, of a rack fastened to the light admitting member, a driving pinion meshing with the rack, a retarding pinion meshing with the rack, and means carried by one of the pinions for controlling the movement of the light admitting member. I g I Signed at Rochester, New York, this 29th day. of April, 1920.

J. TESS-IER. 

